Min Aung Hlaing has big plans for Arakan State’s little-used airports

By Admin 02 Apr 2023

DMG Newsroom
2 April 2023, Sittwe

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing said Saturday that the expansion and upgrading of Sittwe Airport and its runway in the Arakan State capital is a priority for his regime, according to the junta-controlled Myanmar Alinn daily newspaper.

The junta boss said on April 1 that since Sittwe Airport is the airport of the capital of Arakan State, extension of the runway and other airport upgrades, to enable A-320 and B-737 passenger jets to land there, needed to be prioritised in stages.

Min Aung Hlaing said Thandwe Airport also needed to be upgraded to accommodate larger aircraft, claiming that large numbers of domestic and foreign tourists necessitated it. Tourism, however, has been among the industries decimated by the past two years of military rule.

The junta chief has frequently painted a rosier-than-reality picture of economic conditions in Myanmar under his government, including a much-pilorried plan to transform the automobile sector with an influx of electric vehicles, and ambitions to develop a subway system for the sparsely populated capital Naypyidaw.

“In the same way that neighbouring countries are working to improve domestic air services, if Myanmar also takes steps to upgrade domestic air services, it will further support domestic tourism,” Min Aung Hlaing said on Saturday.

“Sittwe Airport’s plan to upgrade its runway is good, but the number of flights to Arakan State is low,” said an official from an air ticket sales centre in Sittwe. “Some airlines have gone bankrupt and no longer operate flights to Arakan State. Now there are only four passenger planes flying to Arakan State. It is difficult to buy air tickets during the Thingyan holidays. Rather than expanding the airport, it is necessary to expand the flights to Arakan state.”

The Arakan State military council has previously told the media that the two largest airports in Arakan State, namely Sittwe Airport and Thandwe Airport, will be upgraded and expanded to become international-class airports to allow direct flights to Kolkata, India, and Bangkok, Thailand.

“The dilapidated and unsanitary buildings seen at Sittwe Airport need to be carefully repaired,” said a social activist in Sittwe who did not wish to be named.

“The Sittwe Airport plan to expand the runway is good, but the airport’s buildings are crumbling, and air conditioners are turned off in places where passengers sit, even in hot weather. Since only one of the two entrances to the airport is open, both gates need to be open,” the social activist added.

Arakan State has domestic airports in Sittwe, Kyaukphyu, Thandwe and Ann townships, offering direct flights to mainland Myanmar. There are currently no direct flights from any of these airports to international destinations.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has visited Arakan State three times this year, more than two years after he seized power in a coup on February 1, 2021, and some four months after the military he leads reached an informal ceasefire with the Arakan Army.